At a meeting on Oct. 9 on the sidelines of the 44th-45th ASEAN Summit in Laos, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra agreed to collaborate with relevant nations to pilot the initiative to boost tourism in the region.

International visitors in Hoi An in early 2024.

Thailand had earlier proposed a Schengen-type joint visa for itself and five other countries: Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

If adopted, travelers will not need additional visas or permits.

Modeled after Europe’s Schengen area, the unified visa will allow tourists to travel freely between the participating countries.

Tu Quy Thanh, director of Lien Bang Tourism Company, said this is the perfect time for Southeast Asian countries to unite in attracting visitors.

"Tourism has not returned to its peak of 2019, the year before the onset of Covid. Countries need to work together toward a common goal to develop tourism together."

The Diplomat, a magazine specializing in Asia-Pacific issues, saying it could take several years for tourism to fully recover, attributed it to the slow return of Chinese tourists, who played a key role in the regional travel boom before the pandemic.

During China's week-long National Day break (Oct. 1-7) many Vietnamese businesses reported that the number of Chinese visitors to Vietnam was only around 10% of pre-pandemic levels.

Pham Anh Vu, deputy general director of Viet Travel Company, which specializes in inbound tourism, said visitors coming from long distances to Vietnam often want to expand their itinerary to neighboring countries due to their close geographical proximity.

Normally, after tourists finish their schedule in Vietnam, the company applies for visas for them to extend travel to Cambodia and Laos by road or waterway.

If the new visa initiative is approved, international visitors who typically spend one to two weeks in Vietnam could extend their stay in the region by an additional three to four weeks to explore neighboring countries, he added.

Hoang The Hau, director of Dai Viet International Tourism, sees potential in caravan tours, where tourists drive their own vehicles across two or three Southeast Asian countries.

He describes this as a "wonderful" opportunity once travel between Southeast Asian nations becomes more streamlined.

Industry insiders have pointed out that this Schengen-type visa could help address concerns that Vietnam is losing out on travelers due to its relatively complex visa requirements compared to Thailand or Malaysia.

Vietnam currently offers visa waivers for citizens of 25 countries, compared to 162 by Malaysia and 93 by Thailand.

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